


Old Tumblr/Livejournal Drabbles

by Nutriyum_Addict



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, Sleepy Cuddles, Table Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 07:00:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6694195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutriyum_Addict/pseuds/Nutriyum_Addict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally posted on Tumblr and the Livejournal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ben Taking Care of a Pregnant Leslie After She Sprains her Ankle

“Are you mad? You seem mad,” Leslie comments, as Ben fusses with a folded up plaid comforter and a dark blue throw pillow down at the end of their bed.

It’s three in the afternoon and he’s got a work suit on and although he looks slightly less frazzled than he did an hour ago when he met her at Dr. Saperstein’s office, he still seems very concerned.

Or mad. She’s not quite sure yet.

Seemingly satisfied, Ben lifts her leg up so that her foot is delicately resting on top of everything and elevated above her heart.

“I’m not mad,” he answers finally, giving her a look she can’t quite figure out.

“Are you sure? Because–”

“Leslie, I’m not. I promise,” he assures her.

She starts to question him but he’s talking again before she can even get any words out.

“Alright, I know sometimes I say I’m not mad even when I really am, but I would never say I promise if I was actually mad. I’m just…worried. You fell and you called me on the way to the doctor’s office and you scared the hell out of me. I just…I’m still a little freaked out.”

“Okay. That’s fair,” Leslie answers and watches as Ben picks up the homemade ice pack and gently places the plastic baggie filled with ice cubes against her ankle.

“Mother…flopper! Oh, that is cold! Cold! I’m not a penguin, Ben!” She practically jumps up but he holds it in place regardless.

Although the sealed plastic bag is wrapped in a cloth napkin–one of her favorites, one with owls on it, it’s as cold as a god damn glacier. And even though she’s been trying not to swear as much while she’s currently growing babies inside her…fuck, that is super fucking cold.

“Babe. It’s ice. It’s going to be a little icy.”

“Well, that’s too icy.”

“No, it’s not. And it needs to stay on there for fifteen minutes.” He crawls up the length of the bed and sits next to her, his legs spread out next to hers and when Ben speaks, his voice is all soft. “Are you okay?”

Is she okay?

Her ankle is throbbing and if she’s being honest, she’s the one that’s mad. So mad at herself for being so careless. But instead of saying any of that, she tries to give him a smile, before snuggling against him, while keeping her propped-up foot still.

“I’m fine. Well, except for my ankle. I was just so worried about the babies that I wanted to make sure nothing happened when I fell. And I wanted you there. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Leslie…of course you should have gotten checked out and you definitely should have called me so I could be there too. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

She nods even as her eyes start to water. Earlier she had been so panicked as Ben had held her hand and Dr. Saperstein checked on her and the triplets, that she hadn’t even been thinking about anything else. But now…her mind is filled with a million something elses.

“How did you even fall?”

Leslie takes a breath. “I was walking with Donna in the parking lot, we were coming back from lunch, and I tripped in a pothole or something. I’m not sure. You know, as City Manager, you should really do something about that…the potholes,” she clarifies.

After helping her up and back to her office briefly for a quick phone consultation with Ann, Donna had then driven her to Dr. Saperstein’s office in her Mercedes. She’d stayed with Leslie until Ben got there. Thankfully, he’d just been at a meeting off-site and close enough to get to her in about ten minutes.

  
Still, it was a long ten minutes.

“Well, until I can get all the potholes filled, please, please be careful when you walk,” he implores her now.

“I was wearing those black shoes, the pumps,” she says quickly, trying to get it all out at once. “I changed into the flats I had in my desk drawer before going to see the doctor, because I really couldn’t walk in the heels after I fell but…” she stops and starts crying, everything finally gushing out in a big hormonal, guilty-feeling explosion. “Oh my god, Ben. Why did I wear those shoes? I felt unbalanced the other day, I should have stopped wearing them but I was running late and…hallway…and…they were closer, and…” she trails off, an emotional pregnant-mess.

“Oh, Leslie. Shhhh, it’s okay,” his arms go around her and she feels instantly better. But also still pretty terrible because of all the what-ifs running through her brain.

“Ben, I’m a horrible pregnant person. I didn’t take the time this morning to find safe shoes and–”

“Honey, you’re not a horrible pregnant person. That’s not–”

“Something could have happened.”

“But it didn’t,” he returns, as she sniffles next to him. “You’re fine, well…except for your ankle.”

“And my knee,” she adds, glancing down to where her now-torn pants leg is stilled rolled up from when Ben had cleaned off the skinned, starting-to-bruise spot when they first got home. He was so gentle and careful as he washed the dirt and blood off and she had thought, he’s going to make such an amazing father. He’s so kind and tender and super sexy.

Okay, well, that last part is probably not appropriate, but it’s true none the less.

“And the babies are fine,” he continues. “But yeah, you should probably start wearing more practical shoes.”

She nods. Now they’ve both got an arm resting on her belly, Ben turned to snuggle into her, and she feels a bit calmer and really, Leslie would feel even better if her ankle didn’t still throb every so often.

And if the ice wasn’t so ridiculously cold. Seriously, her whole foot is practically going numb.

“Definitely,” she responds, starting to get the tears under control. “I’m just angry at myself for being so…obtuse about my footwear. But I’m hanging up my black pumps and just wearing very sensible sneakers for the next four months. Maybe slippers. Or moccasins? I don’t know. Something safe and flat.”

He laughs. “Yeah, well…just tell me that you’re not going to make a fuss about working from home tomorrow with your foot up. Because that’s what is happening, even if I have to stay home and work from bed with you.”

“Hmmm, now that could be fun.”

“With your foot elevated, babe,” he adds, giving her a look.

“Right. That would probably still work.”

Ben considers this and nods. “Yeah, we can probably figure something out.”


	2. Are You Better Off?

“Come here,” Ben says and it takes Leslie a minute to see him in the bed, where he’s all bundled up, with two comforters around him.

“Are you sure there’s room for me in your comforter cocoon there?”

“Yes,” he says, nodding. He even unwraps and then holds the covers out to further entice her.

“Okay, but Ben, you have to help me brainstorm ideas for Founder’s Week. You have to promise if I get in there with you, you’re not going to be all sexy and tempting. I need to work.”

“I promise.” But even as he says it, Ben looks all sexy and tempting.

“Ugh, I just know this is a trick, but…” Leslie trails off and gets in bed with him and he proceeds to bundle them both up, so that they’re facing each other and sharing his pillow.

“How are you even cold? Aren’t you from Minnesota? It’s May.”

He just laughs and shrugs and holds her close.

Yeah. This is definitely a cuddle-trick.

“Okay, we’re meeting with everyone at Ron’s cabin tomorrow and we’re not leaving until we have a plan about how to celebrate the most amazing town in the world.”

“Right” he agrees. But even as he says it, his hands are reaching around, sliding under her pajama pants, and then squeezing her bare butt.

“Seriously?”

“What?” He asks, trying to act all innocent.

Well, two can play at this game, she thinks. Plus, his butt always gives her such great ideas.

Leslie pushes her hands back as well and right under his flannel pants, until each palm is cupping one of his warm and perfect ass cheeks. She gives them both a firm squeeze.

And then continues on with her brainstorming.

“So far we have a pie-eating contest, a giant petting zoo, and the founder’s week parade,” she tells him, all while continuing to grope his backside.

“That sounds good,” Ben agrees, teasingly rubbing his hands along her skin, and when he reaches the backs of her thighs and lightens up his touch, she wiggles and laughs.

Damn it, he knows she’s super ticklish there.

“Ben. Come on. Focus. The public forum is next week.”

“You’re telling me to focus?”

“Yes,” she says, but even as the words are leaving her lips, she’s scratching her fingernails lightly on the back of his thighs, before slowly heading back up to his butt.

“Okay, here’s a question that I’m going to ask everyone tomorrow at the cabin–what makes Pawnee the best city in the world?”

“That’s easy,” he says, right before giving her a kiss. A really warm kiss that makes her smile and absentmindedly try to slide her leg up his, as he pushes her pants down farther and places a hand between her thighs.

But still, there’s a Founder’s Week to plan. So she asks, “What is it? The waffles at JJ’s?”

Ben grins at her. “No. Leslie Knope is what makes Pawnee the best city in the world.”

Oh. That is so sweet.

Fuck it, she thinks, before moving even closer to him, so that their foreheads and noses are touching and her hand is working its way around his hip to the front and down.

They can just brainstorm tomorrow at the cabin.


	3. Cliff-Jumping

He’s got such warm hands.

Way back when they used to sneakily meet in Ann’s office and spend a couple of hours working together, they’d each keep a hand hidden out of sight and under the table, their fingers joined while they read reports or scheduled meetings. Sometimes Ben would trace little patterns over the top of Leslie’s thumb with his own, and it would make her shiver and want more. Make her anxious for later that evening when he would come over and they kiss on her couch and end up naked in her bed.

On the way home from the Smallest Park that one cold night in November, they held hands even while Ben drove them to her house. It all seemed so fragile and delicate, like everything might fall apart if they didn’t keep touching. They let go briefly to get out of the car, then entwined fingers again walking up the pathway to her door.

Once inside, those amazing hands of his hardly ever left her body–-cupping her face, her breasts, spreading her thighs wide and then grasping her hips, as he nuzzled into her skin and made her moan and push against him.

After they celebrated their marriage surrounded by friends, Ben took her hand in his and led her out of City Hall, to the car, and back to their new home.

This morning, Ben has her hand again, squeezing it, full of comfort and reassurance as she lies on a table, bright lights above and a little curtain separating them from the surgery that’s taking place on the other side. He’s looking at her, his dark brown eyes as wet and tear-filled as her blue ones, as Dr. Saperstein lifts one, two, and then three little babies from her body.

They’re small but healthy and beautiful with tiny, adorable fingers and toes.

Ben has such warm hands and he doesn’t let go until she’s whole again.


	4. Ben Comforting a Tired, Pregnant Leslie

“What can I do?” Ben asks, walking into their bedroom after a late work meeting. He takes in the scene–Leslie on the bed in a big t-shirt and black maternity yoga pants, her hair up in a messy ponytail. There are bags under her pretty blue eyes.

“You look…well, I always think you always look beautiful, but you also look–”

“Completely exhausted?” Leslie finishes for him.

“Yes,” he confirms, sitting down next to her on the bed. It’s only eight at night but she’s just so tired looking. But also so beautiful. Sexy, even.

He tries again. “What can I rub?”

Leslie rolls her eyes. “Perv.”

Ben gives his wife a look. “Well, I was talking about your feet or shoulders, babe, but if you want to pull those stretchy pants down, I’d be happy to put my fingers anywhere you’d like. Lady’s choice.”

They share a grin and then Leslie readjusts to lean against him and he shoulders the weight willingly.

“Maybe later, right now just cuddle me.”

“You got it, m’dear. Are they kicking tonight?”

“Yep,” she says as he puts his hand on her lower abdomen. “Busy little triple cherries.”

Ben smiles beside her and feels their babies move around inside his wife. At six-and-a-half months pregnant, Leslie’s gotten to the point where getting around easily is a bit of a struggle, but she’s still trying to do it all. And while he’s just as in awe of her as always, he also feels a little concerned that she’s trying to do too much.

That she’s not eating enough vegetables.

That they haven’t read enough books on breastfeeding or done a good enough job baby-proofing the house.

That she’ll fall over and–

“Stop worrying. I’m fine. We’re all fine. I promise.”

Ben takes a deep breath and wraps his arms around her even more, as much as he can in her very pregnant state. He used to be able to envelope her completely in his arms and now all he can do is reach around her as best he can and hope it’s enough to make her feel secure and loved.

“Okay. But stop trying to reassure me…although I do appreciate it. I’m supposed to be comforting you here. I’m the _sham-wow_.”

“We can take turns being the sham-wow. But I’m just extra tired tonight. And my lower back is killing me.”

He knows it’s a lot for her to admit that, and (aside from Dr. Saperstein) that he and Ann are the only two people Leslie will be completely honest with about how she’s really feeling and how difficult this has been lately.

Ben is pretty sure she’s even been telling Marlene that she’s feeling “great!” because his mother-in-law has taken to emailing Ben almost daily and making him promise that he’s taking good care of Leslie.

And that she’s pretty sure that her daughter is not actually feeling “great!” all the time.

He moves back a little to give her some room, even though she pouts when he does. “Lie on your side.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Leslie mumbles and then laughs quietly as Ben helps her get situated on her right side. He uses pillows to get her comfortable and support everything and then he’s pushing his fingers along the lower half of her spine, focusing his gentle pressure to the area above her tail bone.

“This help?” he asks, one hand on her hip, the other continuing to lightly touch her.

“Oh my god, I love you so much. Yes.”

“Good. Close your eyes.”

“But I should really go over that report for–”

“That can wait. Come on. Just close your eyes for a few minutes and let me take care of you. Of all four of you.”

He hears Leslie sigh. “Okay. But only because that feels so amazing.”

“Alright. I’ll take it.”

They’re quiet for a few minutes as he touches and continues to massage her lower back. Eventually, he ends up spooning her from behind, his arm protectively around her abdomen.

Ben feels a baby (or two or three) kick every so often and he can’t even imagine what that must feel like for her.

“Are you ready for this?” Leslie asks quietly.

Ben smiles into her hair. “Yeah. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say I’m not scared, but I’m also looking forward to being a parent with you. To doing this amazing thing with you. To raising our family together.”

“Me too.”

Ben can hear her voice crack a little and he sits up so he can lean over and kiss her cheek.

“Are you going to cry?”

“Maybe.”

Ben crawls over so he’s facing Leslie and he lies down next to her again, this time his head sharing her pillow, so close their noses are almost touching. And yeah, her cheeks are a little damp and he brushes a fingertip along the wet trail.

”I love you more than _Game of Thrones_ ,” he tells her.

Leslie smiles back and says, “I love you more than waffles.”

And then she makes a face that he easily interprets.

“You want waffles now, right?”


	5. How can you think I’m anything but hopelessly in love with you?

“I really thought you hated me for awhile,“ Leslie says softly, and it’s only now, while her leg is draped casually over his hip, and they’re lying in his bed with no clothes between them, that she can even say it.

Now, when she absolutely knows for sure that the way he feels is the exact opposite.  

“How could you think I was anything but hopelessly in love with you?”

  She smiles…beams, really at his words. Leslie’s still not used to Ben saying that. Or hearing about it in the official trial transcript. Or saying it back herself, even if it was through a tired and grumpy Ethel Beavers, just a couple of hours ago.  “These past few months, I thought you were hopelessly…annoyed at me, for starters.”

  “Well,” Ben says, using his hand to gently readjust her leg just a bit higher up.

His fingers graze against the skin of her thigh, then move up to caress the curve of her hip, before he dips back down and between her legs, where she’s still wet from their earlier activities. “There’s no reason I couldn’t have been both.”  

She gasps in mock surprise, even as she wiggles against his fingertips just a bit. “Me? Annoying? Nooooo.”

  Ben laughs, nods his head, slides his hand up and rests it on the back of her thigh. “Maybe just a little bit.”  

“Fine. But you were being–”  

“A passive-aggressive jerk?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Instead, Leslie moves forward even closer and stretches up to kiss him.

  “I would. But I was in love with you,” he says simply when she pulls back and rests her head back against the pillow. “I am in love with you. I love you. And it hurt to try and not be.”

  “I love you,” Leslie says back, leaning in again to rub her nose lightly against his, just like she did earlier out in the snow. Then she whispers, “I love you so much. With all of my heart, Ben. It’s in the official transcript.”  

“I know.”

He’s grinning and this time when they kiss it’s still all smiley and slow, but also with a little more heat, as she shifts on top of him easily, straddling his hips, but keeping her mouth on his. Since that night at the Smallest Park a few days ago, Leslie’s hardly wanted to have her mouth anywhere else.  

And sure her campaign is a mess currently and she has no idea how she’s going to fill these next two weeks without work, but right now, right here, this moment is perfect.

So really, the answer is obvious. “We should just stay in bed like this forever.”

  “Well, I did just resign in disgrace and you’ve been suspended. We certainly have some extra time to spend in bed.” Then, he pushes a few strands of hair out of her face and Leslie wonders, how could she ever have been anything but hopelessly in love with Ben?


	6. Are You Ticklish?

Honestly, Leslie’s more anxious than she thought she’d be.

Before, this moment was in the future and far away, something to look forward to and with the soft cushion of time. But right now, it’s here–all sharp and pointy as she lies in the hospital bed with her legs raised up by the adjustable mattress. Ben is sitting next to her, gently stroking his fingers through the hair by her forehead and Leslie is really feeling it.

Because seriously, she’s still _feeling_ it.

“Ben, my legs just seem tingly, but I can still feel everything,” she tells him, her voice a bit more rushed than she means it to be. “Oh my god, it’s not work–”

“Honey, it’s okay, it’s only been a few minutes,” he answers and really, it kind of pisses her off how calm he’s being. “Nothing is going to happen until the spinal block kicks in. I promise.”

“Aren’t you nervous?” Holy crap, how can he not be nervous? Soon, they are going to wheel her into a room and cut her open, all while Ben holds onto her hand like absolutely nothing is out of the ordinary–just like it’s any other Tuesday.

Ben laughs his slightly-higher-than-normal, I’m-really-freaking-out chuckle and she immediately feels better. Then he admits, “I am completely terrified, but I’m trying to stay relaxed and supportive for you. To um, sham-wow you and make you feel better. Is it–”

She nods. “Yes. Okay, it’s working and it also helps to know it’s all an act, keep doing that, babe.”

“Leslie, it’s going to be fine. Despite being half-responsible for Jean-Ralphio and Mona-Lisa, Dr. Saperstein seems to know what he’s doing and I’m right here and your mom’s in the waiting room with Ann, and everyone else will be by later.”

“Right,” she agrees, taking a deep breath. Dr. Saperstein does have great Yelp reviews. “It’s going to be fine.”

They’re quiet for a couple of minutes.

He’s holding her hand now as Leslie studies the details of the room–the pale green walls with decals of happy teddy bears and bright sunflowers, the fetal monitor’s rhythmic low beeping by her side. When she just concentrates on this space and on Ben beside her, it is all fine, but then she thinks about the upcoming c-section and she starts to feel anxious again.

“You know, honestly, I bet I could just push these suckers out my vagina. Hey, why don’t we give it a try before the nurse comes back to check on me? Help me fix the bed and then move down there and get ready to catch,” she tells him, as his eyes widen in surprise and Ben stands up quickly.

“Um, no. No. Please don’t try that,” Ben says and now he’s certainly starting to look a little panicked.

“Leslie, I–”

“Shhhh, relax, I was kind of joking,” she says, giving him a small smile. “I’m just nervous,” Leslie tells him. “But hey, maybe we should put this on hold and go on a cruise to Alaska? Have you ever been to Alaska? November is the perfect time of year for that and I mean, we’ve already got some packed bags and–”

Ben swoops down and kisses her before she can get any farther into her impractical travel plan spiral.

“I know you’re nervous,” Ben tells her softly after they stop kissing, his forehead touching hers. He pulls back, looking all concerned and sleepy (honestly, she thinks he probably slept less than she did last night), and when Ben starts stroking her hair again it feels so good that she maybe closes her eyes and moans a little. “But it’s going to be okay. You know, I was very nervous the day I proposed to you.”

“You were?” Leslie opens her eyes and looks at him while she remembers that day. That completely perfect moment in her life a little more than two years ago. He didn’t seem nervous–Ben had seemed emotional and happy and full of love for her and ready to start their future.

But now, Ben just nods.

“Why? You have to have known I’d say yes,” she responds, feeling her eyes start to water and suddenly it’s just them talking and she’s not nervous at all.

“I had a pretty good idea, but it was kind of…” he pauses to smirk before continuing, “a sneaky surprise to spring on you. When I got there, I saw Martha walk outside so I figured you were by yourself, but it was still a little nerve-wracking. What if you were looking at the bathroom and there wasn’t enough room to get down on one knee or something? And then, you’d have to tell people that I proposed to you in a bathroom.”

“It was the perfect proposal,” she tells him and he smiles back at her, leaning forward to give her another kiss. “It was the perfect start to our family.”

“Are you ticklish?”

Leslie makes a face at his question. “You know I am.”

“Well, I’ve been tickling around your lower stomach for the last minute or so. Can you not feel that?”

  
Leslie definitely couldn’t feel it and for some reason she’s incredibly surprised by this information.

“Oh fuck. Seriously? It worked. This is really happening.”

Ben laughs, more relaxed this time, and despite everything that’s about to come, Leslie feels calm and reassured in this amazing and perfect moment with Ben and their three little about-to-be-born triple cherries.

She’s ready.


	7. Ben and Leslie having trouble getting pregnant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt, AU...

As soon as she wakes up, Leslie quietly but excitedly lifts Ben’s arm off her stomach and tip-toes into the bathroom. She’s just wearing one of his pajama tops, but that’s okay, she’s not going very far.

The good feeling she has about this morning lasts all the way until the bathroom clock confirms that it’s been three minutes since she’d peed on the stick and she eagerly looks at the test and–

Nope. Just one line. Not pregnant. Definitely not knocked up. Not eating waffles for two later in the morning.

She takes a deep breath and tosses the piece of plastic in the trash.

When Leslie quietly opens the door, Ben’s sitting up in bed, looking right at her with his messy bed head and his sleepy, concerned eyes.

“Hey.” His voice is soft and gruff and so reassuring, even though she once again feels like the bottom of her world just dropped away. Like she just got recalled or had to try and choose between staying in Pawnee or going to Chicago for her dream job. Or her best friend moved away.

“Hi. You’re up early,” Leslie answers, walking back over to the bed, all while trying not to give anything away. But really, it’s a losing battle, because she can feel the tears welling up in her eyes before she’s even halfway across the bedroom.

Ben holds the covers open for her and she slides back in next to him. Leslie manages to wrap her arms around him before she starts crying, burying her head against his chest.

She was absolutely sure this test was the one.

But now, instead of knowing that she’s pregnant and spending the day looking forward to a little boy who looks like Ben, one that they could dress in plaid onesies, or a daughter to teach about following her dreams and Galentine’s Day, she’ll probably just be cranky and crampy and tired when she gets her period later.

He just holds her while she cries for a couple of minutes, stroking her hair and telling her everything will be alright, and then Ben says, “Honey. You know, it’s only been five months, that’s–”

“That’s one-hundred and fifty-five days, Ben,” Leslie manages to get out between sobs.

“April and June only have 30 days so…” He trails off and hugs her tighter. “Sorry. I’m sorry, that doesn’t help.”

Instead of correcting her math, he kisses her forehead. “But Leslie, I promise, it’s really not that long and we’re going to keep trying. The trying is fun, right? Even when you burst into a meeting in the City Manager’s office and pull me into an empty conference room.”

Leslie sniffs. “That was fun,” she agrees, nodding slowly.

“Oh, I have something that will help. I’m going to give you a message from Ann. She said to read you this if you got discouraged,” Ben says suddenly.

“Beautiful nurse Ann Perkins? Is Ann here?” Leslie sits up and looks around the bedroom. Could she be hiding? Where is Ann?

“No, you goofball. She sent me this to use if you needed it, so that’s what I’m going to do.” Ben leans over, opens his bedside table drawer, and pulls out a folded sheet of paper.

“ _Dear Leslie, it’s Ann Perkins, talking to you through your sexy antelope husband, Ben_ ,” he pauses and makes a face. “Oh, well, I guess that’s nice. Okay, um, here’s the rest. _Leslie, it can take up to a year to get pregnant when you start trying, and it’s completely normal. So please don’t worry or be too sad if it doesn’t happen right away_.”

Ben stops reading and looks at her. She gives him a little smile and wipes at her eyes.

“ _Just keep using an ovulation test and you might want to try putting your legs up on Ben’s shoulders or do it from behind when you_ …” he stops reading. “Okay. I think I’m just going to give you this to read yourself.”

Ben hands her the paper.

Leslie laughs and takes the note. … _or do it from behind when you have sex. It’s also supposed to help when you both orgasm at the same time, so maybe use a vibrator to make sure you get there when he does. And afterwards, stay in bed for about 15 minutes without moving around too much. You can put your legs up, but the studies on that are a little inconclusive. Good luck. And remember, this isn’t going to happen overnight but I think it will happen. I love you. Please call me if you want to talk about it. And also talk to Ben, he’s probably going through some stuff too._

She looks at her husband as she folds the note back in half. Then Leslie puts it in her bedside table drawer. “Ann is very smart.”

“She is,” Ben agrees.

“But babe, what if….” Leslie trails off, afraid to even say it out loud.

“What?” Ben asks, looking at her with eyes full of concern, and of course Ann is right, Ben is a sexy antelope husband in a soft blue t-shirt and plaid pajama pants.

A sexy, caring antelope who will make an amazing and patient father.

“But what if my eggs are too old?” She asks quietly.

Ben shakes his head. “Your eggs are not too old.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe you should have had future children with Shauna Malwae-Tweep, her eggs are at least 10 years younger than mine and–”

“Okay, I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer. Your eggs are…full of experience and beautiful and there’s no one else in the whole world whose eggs my sperm would rather make a baby with,” he reaches out and takes her hand. “We should give this at least a few more months before we get too upset, alright?”

“Alright. I love you and you are also very smart,” Leslie says, squeezing his fingers back gently.

“I love you too. But it’s five AM, could we please go back to sleep for just a bit? Or at least cuddle with our eyes closed?”

“Maybe. But I’m smart too, right?”

Ben grins and pulls her back down and under the covers. “Yes. You, Leslie Knope, are incredibly smart.”

“And sneaky?”

“Um, no. I knew you got up to do a test about ten seconds after you left the bed,” he teases, but then turns serious as his palm stokes her bare stomach. “You know, you don’t have to hide that. Just tell me and we can do it together. I want to be there.”

“So what you’re saying is, you want to watch me pee?” She jokes.

Ben laughs and makes a semi-intrigued face, much like the one he made when they watched Councilman Dexhart explain tex-mexting on TV earlier in the year.

Okay, so he’s a sexy, perverted antelope-husband and she can’t wait to make a baby with him. Or two or three.


	8. You're so beautiful

“Hey, babydoll, can you pass me my coffee?” Leslie asks casually, from her spot near the sink. She appears to just be leaning against the counter while watching him read something on his tablet.

“Wait,” Ben says, getting up from the table and then handing her the old Pawnee Goddesses mug regardless.

“But that’s my name for you.”

“I can call you babydoll too,” she insists, making a face. “Men can be babydolls. **Mmmmm** …Congressman Babydoll.”

Ben snorts in amusement. “Please do not make me a nameplate with that on it for my office.”

“Maybe for the bedroom office?”

He steps even closer and takes her mug back, setting it on the counter. “That would probably be alright.”

Ben wraps his arms around Leslie, pulling her hips flush against his front. He thrusts lightly into her, making her laugh. It’s a lazy Sunday and amazingly it’s quiet in the house and she looks so pretty and relaxed in a pair of jeans and an old plaid shirt.

She’s not even wearing any socks and Ben can see her cute red toenails peaking out from the bottom of her jeans when he looks down between them.

“But you’re still my babydoll,” Ben tells her. “You will always be my babydoll. You’re so beautiful.”

“You’re my babydoll, ba–“ She can’t even finish her sentence, trying to one-up him on the terms of endearment, before his lips are on hers.

Ben wonders if maybe they have time to do something inappropriate in the kitchen. He hasn’t even worked out the logistics yet when his hands start unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans, before his brain can even give the official go ahead. Sometimes around Leslie, his hands have their own agenda.

It was always like this, even that first kiss in the City Manager’s office. His hands just pulled her face towards his and…here they are.

“Oh my god!”

Both Ben and Leslie turn quickly at the source of the interruption, Ben jumping back just a bit.

“Gross,” sixteen year-old Sonia insists. “Mom, dad, come on. We eat in here.”

“Um,” Ben makes a confused face. “Wait. I thought you were at Sara’s studying.” He distinctly remembers all three kids leaving after breakfast, the boys to go to the park and his daughter to study with her friend next door.

“I am, but then I came home quick to get my chem book. You didn’t even notice because you were too busy…doing that.”

“Sonia, if your dad and I weren’t gross on occasion, you wouldn’t even be here,” Leslie teases their daughter.

Ben nods in agreement.

“Fine. You had sex once,” Sonia says grudgingly. Then she covers her ears quickly and heads out the kitchen door, all while chanting, “l _alalalalalala_.”

“Why does everyone only think we only had sex once?” Leslie asks her husband, her jeans still unbuttoned and half-way unzipped.

Ben just shrugs and unzips her pants the rest of the way.


	9. What do you want me to say?

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

He can tell by the waver in her voice, that all he’d need to say would be, _No, please don’t go_ , and Leslie would stay in a heartbeat, stop her packing, and just not go. But, Ben doesn’t want to do that (well, he does), but he knows that she has an important job and that his wife is going to have to travel every so often.

Besides, this is just an overnight trip-–but it’s her first business trip since giving birth six months ago.

“We’ll be fine,” he tells her confidently, a happy but wide awake Wesley cradled in his arms, while Sonia and Stephen are down for an afternoon nap.

She stares at the both of them. “Oh, no. Nope. I was wrong. No, this is too soon. I can see if Ed can–”

“Babe. Ed would mess it up, you said that yourself last week. You need to go give the presentation.”

“Right. Right,” she nods. “It’s just overnight.”

“Twenty-seven hours,” Ben agrees, talking himself into it as much as her. “You’ll be back home with all of us tomorrow night. I can handle everything. April and Andy and your mom are all here if I need help and besides, we’ll all be fine.”

“You have enough milk? I could probably pump once more before the shuttle gets here and–”

“We have enough milk. And…we’re going to try mashed sweet potatoes tonight. Whaaaaat?” Ben makes a face and cuddles a cooing Wesley. “Sweet potatoes? No way daddy, that’s sounds delicious. And super messy!” He says in a soft, exaggerated voice that makes Wesley giggle.

“Sweet potatoes? Okay, that’s it, I’m staying. I’m not missing sweet potatoes. That’s practically the only good vegetable,” Leslie says decisively, unzipping her just finally zipped up overnight bag.

“Okay, tell you what. We’ll definitely save the sweet potatoes until you get back and we’ll do more avocado tonight. No new foods without you. I promise.”

“Ben,” she starts, eyes already tearing up, her head slowly moving side to side. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can do this,” he says, walking over to her and handing Leslie their son just as she starts to cry.

They both sit down on the bed and Ben’s arm goes around her almost immediately. “It’s going to be hard and I would be feeling the exact same way if I had to travel right now, but it’s just one night and–”

“If I got up at one in the morning I could just drive there, skip the morning sessions and just make the afternoon presentation. That’s the only really important part, I don’t know why I even decided to go to the morning events. And then I can fly home Monday night at six like planned.”

Ben frowns. “Okay, let’s ignore for a moment that you’d be driving ten hours by yourself overnight, how would you get your car home?”

“I’ll rent a car and then just leave it there! And then I’m just gone for…” she pauses to do the math in her head and then frowns as another tear runs down her cheek, “twenty hours.”

“Honey, it’ll be okay. What do you want me to say? What do you need me to say?”

Leslie leans her head against Ben’s shoulder, as Wesley rubs his little face against Leslie’s chest and closes his eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to tell you that you I love you and are an amazing woman and that I know your job is super important to you and that in no way makes the babies any less important to you.”

Ben smiles as Leslie runs her palm lightly against Wesley’s back.

“And that I know this is hard and you’ll miss them while you’re in DC but, we’re going to Skype tonight during dinner and again before bed and tomorrow you’ll be busy going to sessions on land management and trail maintenance and you’ll have your planner out and you will have a wonderful time.”

“I do like jamming on my planner,” she says softly.

“I know you do,” Ben agrees, smiling. “And then tomorrow night, your mom’s going to stay with the babies and I’m going to be there at the airport to pick you up.”

“Get there early. Because if I have anything to do with it, my plane will be ahead of schedule.”

“Noted, just please try not to get arrested by an air marshal,” he says. “Or, you know, maybe you’ll be having so much fun, you’ll just call me tomorrow afternoon–-no, not even call, just text and tell me that you’re going to stay an extra day.”

“Never happen,” Leslie tells him, leaning in for a kiss.

When he pulls away and opens his eyes, Ben tells her, “But say you get invited to a fancy dinner and Vice President Joe Biden will be there.”

“Mmmmmm,” Leslie says, raising an eyebrow and grinning just a bit at her husband.


	10. Leslie in Ben's shirt with no pants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt.

“What are you doing?” Ben asks and then turns his kitchen light on, illuminating both the space and his girlfriend, who’s currently rummaging around the cabinets at midnight.

She spins around. “Oh hi there.”

“Hi,” he answers, unable to keep from smiling at the sight of Leslie wearing one of his shirts and looking all tousled, like she just got out of his bed (which she did).

She’s slipped one of his shirts on a couple of times before, like if she got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night at April and Andy’s or something, but it seems so different to see her like this here–in his usually quiet DC rental, and in one of his crisp white shirts instead of a worn-in plaid one.

“You’re very low on snacks. We’ll need to do something about that.”

“Alright,” Ben agrees, laughing.

He has the whole day off tomorrow and they’re going to tour the capital’s sights properly–-the Smithsonian, take a White House tour, and visit the Lincoln Memorial, in fact Leslie has a whole itinerary mapped. He’s pretty sure she even scheduled in a waffle sundae food truck break.

“I mean, where are the post-sex cookies, Ben?”

“Well,” he says, walking towards her until he’s standing so close he can reach out and tug her hips to his, his legs spread and just outside of her own, as Leslie’s hands start to wander down to grope his pajama pants-covered ass. “I did plan a little surprise for your visit.”

“You did? Besides that whole awesome sex thing earlier?”

Ben nods and leans in for a kiss that she eagerly returns.

“Huh, did you check the cookie drawer?”

Leslie’s eyes light up but then narrow at him skeptically. “The cookie drawer? Where’s the–”

“The bedside table on your side.” He watches her smile at his words.

“Seriously? You hid cookies by the bed for me?”

“That is exactly what I did. Because I am very sneak–”

“Oh my god, I love you so much!” Leslie exclaims excitedly, interrupting him before he can even get his words out.

This time when she kisses him, she pushes her body flush against his and Ben lets his hands travels from her hips to just under her ass…and fuck. She’s not wearing anything at all under his shirt. His fingers wander along the curve of her butt, he gives it a playful little pat and keeps going, down a bit between her legs until she’s squirming against him.

“Mmmmm, maybe we should go back to the bedroom and get the cookies?”

“Or maybe since you didn’t bother putting on any underwear, we should stay in here and do it on the table?” He suggests, careful not to say my table or anything that makes it sound like this DC space is anything other than temporary.

“You are a very smart person,” Leslie tells him, spinning around in his arms and pushing her back against his front.

“I have my moments.” He says it right before kissing her neck, one hand already buried between her thighs. She’s still wet from earlier and when his finger brushes against her clit, Leslie practically jumps.

Ben holds her tight and sucks on the skin of her neck, all while walking them towards the table.

He can’t quite understand how it’s possible, but he realizes that they’ve never actually done it on a table before. Probably because her kitchen table is usually covered in old magazines, ceramic knickknacks, wicker baskets, and god knows what, and his was either not at all private or the site of an Andy-induced disaster.

But this one is cleared off and clean-–almost as if it’s just waiting for them to do something inappropriate on it.

“Bend over,” he whispers in her ear, hoping it sounds as sexy out loud as it does in his head. She groans in response, so he’s pretty sure he’s hit the mark on sexy. Leslie twists briefly for another kiss, all sloppy and heated, mumbling something about earning his sex cookies, and then leans forward on the table.

Ben starts with his fingers, rubbing and pushing into her, until she’s squirming back against him, and god he misses this–just touching her in person or even looking for snacks together late at night, not to mention the sight of her all bared and open in front of him, his white shirt bunched up around her waist.

“Ben,” she says his name impatiently, pushing her ass back towards him.

“Stop thinking about the cookies, babe,” he teases, tugging down his pajama pants and pushing inside her slowly, as his one arm slides around her stomach, resting between her and the table.

It’s honestly probably a good thing that he’s the one doing most of the work this time, he thinks, since once Leslie starts thinking about cookies, she’s basically useless until she eats cookies.

“I’m not thinking about…ohhhhhhhhhh.” She trails off with a moan and then starts gasping at his deep thrusts, just as his finger starts rubbing little circles around her wet clit.

“God, you’re so sexy. You’re so–”

“Mmmmm…what kind of–”

“Chocolate chip and peanut butter, you goofball. Now, fuck…” Ben trails off, speeding his movements up, hoping she’s close.

“Oh god, chocolate chip,” Leslie manages to get out right before she shudders and squeals, her mouth muffled down against her forearm as she comes.

For Ben, the month without this, without being able to be inside Leslie and having to make due with Skype makes his orgasm, when it happens quickly, even more earth-shattering.

“That was fun,” she says eventually, her head now turned to the side, blonde hair even more tousled than earlier.

Ben starts laughing, before adding, “that was a lot of fun.”

“But now…it’s cookie time.”


End file.
